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Lost 3 hours on the Appalachian Trail near Harper's Ferry because I trusted AllTrails over my map
Everyone raves about AllTrails for navigation but it nearly got me stranded last fall. I was hiking the AT section north of Harper's Ferry and the app showed a blue blaze shortcut that was supposed to save 2 miles. Turns out that trail hasn't been maintained since 2018 and it just dead-ended into a steep ravine filled with poison ivy. I had to bushwhack back to the main trail and lost a solid 3 hours of daylight. My paper map from the ATC had the old route marked as abandoned but I figured the app would be more up to date. Lesson learned - now I check the comments section before trusting any GPS trail on that app. Anyone else had a similar experience trusting digital maps over paper ones?
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lunah863mo ago
Cell service drops constantly in that Harper's Ferry gap. I lost GPS mid-hike near the Loudoun Heights overlook and my digital map froze. Now I carry a printed copy of the ATC map for that specific section.
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dylan_stone333mo ago
Wait, @lunah86, isn't relying on paper maps kinda overkill for a well-marked trail?
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christophermorgan3mo ago
You know I used to totally think paper maps were overkill. I remember laughing at my buddy for bringing one on a simple day hike. Then my phone died at a fork near Blackrock Summit and I ended up going a full mile out of the way before I realized my mistake. Now I always keep a folded paper copy of the specific trail section in my pack, just in case.
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